Hollywood's Not America
by SlntLullaby
Summary: Fame isn't all it's made out to be. You can lose yourself very easily. The story of Sam, Freddie, and Carly, when one of them leaves for Hollywood and isn't who they were. How can the other two get their best friend back, before fame takes over?
1. She moved west to California

"_Born Helena Jane, with a restless soul. She moved west to California, became a centerfold."_

_ -Hollywood's Not America:_

_ Ferras_

* * *

Freddie stared at the television screen, mesmerized by it. He stared at that girl that he used to know. Now, he hardly knew her. She had changed her name, her hair, her style… she had changed everything that had made her who she was. He heard the front door of the Shay's apartment shut, but his eyes were still glued to the screen.

"Freddie? Hello, Earth to Freddie?" Carly asked. She walked over to her couch where he sat, and sat down beside him. She turned her head to see what was so fascinating on the TV.

"Wait up! Come on, you can't _still _be mad at me," said the girl on the screen. The boy turned to her.

"What you did is unforgivable," the boy on the screen spat. Then, he walked away, and the show ended and a new one came on.

"Oh Freddie," Carly said, her eyes filling up with tears. Once he had snapped out of his trance, he turned to her.

"She's not that girl in that show. She's not that girl in the commercial that's on. She's not that singer that's singing the song on the radio right now. It's not who she is!" Freddie exclaimed.

"Freddie! She is now! You need to realize that! I miss her as much as you do and it kills me to see her like this, but you need to let it go because she's _not _who she was," Carly said sternly. Just then, the door opened. Freddie's eyes grew wide and hopeful. Spencer walked in through the door.

"Hey, I'm home kiddos!" Spencer said cheerfully. Freddie sank back down, farther into the couch. It wasn't her. It never would be. Carly patted his knee.

"You'll be okay," she said to him. Then she added, "I think," at the last minute, thinking that Freddie couldn't hear her, but oh, was she wrong. He could hear her perfectly clear. He lay down on the couch as silent tears rolled down his cheeks, and he thought about the day she had left.

"_Well Freddork, I'm leaving," she told Freddie. Freddie groaned. _

"_Come on, do you really have to insult me while you're saying goodbye?" he asked. She laughed._

"_Of course I do! Otherwise you wouldn't remember me as I am," she said playfully. Carly walked over. _

"_Why do you have to go?" Carly asked sadly. _

"_Because I need to live. I'm not getting anywhere with my life here, and I'm a restless person," she told Carly._

"_Los Angeles is billions of miles away!" Carly exclaimed._

"_Chill. It's only 2 ½ hours by plane and like 22 to 24 hours by car. It's not that bad," she laughed._

"_So you're really going, huh?" Freddie asked. It had come down to this. They were faced with the fact that she was actually leaving soon. _

"_Well, yeah," she said softly. She hadn't realized where time had gone. One minute, she was doing iCarly with Carly and Freddie, random dancing, and now she was standing in the Shay's living room with suitcases all around her, and they weren't dancing at all. It felt as if they were mourning at a funeral, there was such deadly silence. Carly's face started to get red and they knew she was about to cry. _

"_Please don't go! How can you leave us? We need you! For iCarly, for problems, to beat people up, to make us laugh… You're a part of me, and with you gone, a part of me will be gone too!" Carly said as tears ran down her face. _

"_She's right Sam. You're a part of us," said Freddie. Sam went over to Carly and hugged her. She just held her and let Carly cry on her shoulder. After a while, Sam spoke._

"_Hey, you need to learn how to live without me. You knew that I would be gone someday. It's time to lose the training wheels and grow up kiddo," Sam said faintly. There was a knock on the door and Spencer ran out from his room to answer it. There were 2 men standing outside of the door._

"_We're here to collect Miss Puckett's baggage and get her to the limo," one of the men said. _

"_Oh, it's over here," said Sam as she pointed to her bags. The men came over and grabbed her bags. _

"_We have to leave in 10 minutes," said the other man as they walked out the door and down the stairs to the lobby. You could practically hear Lewbert screaming at the men to, 'Get out of his lobby!'_

"_Time to leave kid?" Spencer asked. Sam just nodded. She let go of Carly and walked over to Spencer and hugged him tightly. "Don't forget spaghetti tacos," Spencer said. She laughed._

"_Never," she said. She unwrapped herself and Carly came over, still crying. _

"_Sam…" Carly started, but couldn't finish as she started a fresh batch of tears. Sam hugged her again. "Sam, don't forget iCarly, our sleepovers, random dancing, almost dying from falling off of a scaffolding, trash talking Shelby Marx, eating sandwiches together when we were little…" Carly said, still naming more memories she had with Sam. Sam soothed her and said comforting words, and released her. Then, it was Freddie's turn. He walked over to her slowly. _

"_Well, I guess this is goodbye," he said, while extending his arm. _

"_Oh, get over here you dork," Sam laughed and pulled him into a hug, "I'll miss you."_

"_I'll miss you too," Freddie said as tears rolled down his cheeks. _

"_Hey, don't cry on me now," Sam said while hugging him tighter. "Oh, and just so you never forget that I was your first kiss and that I'm the only one that can beat you up…" she said, and kissed him softly and quickly. Then she smiled and pulled out of his grasp. "I have to go." She walked out of the Shay's apartment for the last time and rode the elevator down to the lobby and walked out of the door, to the taxi. Freddie snapped out of the trance from the kiss and ran down the stairs to the lobby to get Sam, ignoring Carly and Spencer's remarks. _

_Just as Sam was getting into the taxi, Freddie ran over and whispered into her ear, "Remember, Hollywood's not America." She turned to face him, her face glowing with happiness and with sadness. _

"_Thank you for everything… Freddie," she said and hugged him again. Then she got into the taxi cab and the driver started to leave. She rolled down the window and Freddie grabbed onto her hand, holding onto it as tight as he could, as if he could grab her and have her never go. He had to let go though, as the driver started to go too fast. Only when the apartment building was out of view and the tinted window of the taxi was rolled up, did Sam allow herself to cry. "I know Freddie," she whispered, "and the thing I'm afraid of the most, is that you're not there to protect me." More tears fell down her face. "I'm a small girl, in a big city, with no friends or family, no protection, and no guy I loved like I loved you," she croaked out. She placed her hand on the cold window as she watched the place where she grew up fade away. "Goodbye Seattle," she said sadly. _

* * *

**Well, new story! What do you think? I kind of like the idea, but I don't know, how do you guys like it? Being the stupid emotional person I am, I cried when I wrote some of this. Like, losing your best friend or your love, or seeing them everyday when they're not who they were, it's sad. It's a way of life. And that hurts. Sometimes we have to grow up, and that scares us the most. Well… Please Read & Review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any of the characters. The only thing that I own is the story line of this story.**


	2. She hardly recognizes herself at all

"_But once you change your name, where the pieces fall. Now she hardly recognizes herself at all."_

* * *

A girl sat in her dressing room, staring at herself in the mirror. Staring back at her was girl with straight blonde hair that came to her shoulders with side bangs. A girl with bright green eyes, smoky eye shadow, and long eyelashes coated with thick black mascara. A girl with bright red lipstick on. A girl who was wearing a sparkly pink minidress that came a little above the middle of her thighs, and 4 inch black high heels. Who was this girl? This girl was once Sam Puckett. Without all of the things that had changed about her, that was Sam Puckett. This new girl was Rebecca Taylor. So, there sat the girl who didn't even recognize her own face in the mirror. She opened the only locked drawer in the room and took out a box. The box contained things from her old life. Pictures, souvenirs, and memories. There was her remote she used to use on iCarly, her friendship bracelet Carly made for her when they were 8, a wrapper from her first fatcake that she are, pictures of her, Carly, and Freddie, and a necklace with a locket on it. First, she took out the pictures. The one on top was of her and Carly. They both had cupcakes in their hands and were shoving them into each other's faces, making Carly and Sam's faces completely covered with blue frosting. The next was of Carly and Spencer. Carly had a bullhorn in her hand and was yelling at Spencer to 'man it up.' Spencer had a somewhat scared expression and was starting to bend down. She picked up another picture. It was of Carly and Freddie. It was of the back of them. They were looking out the window, sitting side by side, hand in hand. Carly's head was resting on Freddie's shoulder and he was staring straight ahead. The last few ones were of her and Freddie. In one of them, she was wrestling him; in one she was slapping him. The next one was of her on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck, and her chin resting on top of his head, and she was smiling like crazy. Freddie was beaming too, and his arms were locked underneath her legs, making sure she didn't fall off his back. Sam smiled as she looked at the picture, and then placed it down next to the others. The next one was of Sam sitting cross-legged on the Shay's couch, crying her eyes out. Freddie was sitting next to her with his arms around her, pulling her close. She was crying into his shoulder and just letting him hold her and sooth her. There were 3 more pictures left after that one. One of Sam and Freddie lying on the Shay's couch, sleeping. Freddie had his head on the pillow and he was kind of lopsided. Sam was lopsided too, and Freddie's back was her pillow. Her legs were on top of his and there was a slight smile on both of their faces. In another one, Freddie was picking up Sam and swinging her around in circles. They were both laughing hysterically. In the last one, Sam and Freddie both had a sad look on their faces. Sam's eyes were droopy and looking down, and it seemed as if the blue in them had faded to a dark gray. Her face looked like it had been streaked with tears. Freddie was also looking down and his eyes were dull. He had his hands on Sam's shoulders and was kissing her forehead lightly. Sam sighed and felt the pang of heartbreak. She put the pictures back and took out the locket. The locket was in the shape of a heart. When you opened it, it said Princess Puckett on one side and the other side had a picture of Sam, Carly, and Freddie in it. Freddie was in the middle, laughing, like Sam, and he had his arm around Sam's neck, giving her a noogie, playfully. Carly was pushing Freddie playfully and her hair was sticking up everywhere, from a friction demo they did on iCarly and she smiling big and laughing. Sam had a piece of ham in one hand and the other hand was ruffling Freddie's hair, and she was laughing. It was her favorite picture of the three of them. Freddie gave her that locket for her 15th birthday. It had been her favorite possession. Her manager wouldn't let her keep it on anymore though. A knock on the door shook Sam back to reality. Her manager, a thin woman with medium length brown, but graying hair, heavy makeup, and almost too smooth skin, names Sylvie, burst through the door.

"Rebecca, sweetie, it's time to go to the premiere for _Manhunt,_" said Sylvie. _Manhunt _was this new horror movie that she had just been in, and she was a main character. Hence, she had to go to the premiere. She had no choice, though she'd rather stay in the comfort of her own room.

"Oh, um, I'm coming. Just give me a second. I'll meet you out by the limo in 2 minutes," was Sam's reply.

"Fine, but hurry. Austin is waiting," Sylvie snapped. Sam breathed a sigh of relief when Sylvie left the room. She took the locket and clasped it around her neck. She put her hands around the heart and squeezed it.

"I'll never forget you guys," she whispered. She closed the box, threw it into the drawer, then slammed the drawer shut and locked it. One more minute and she had to see Austin. Oh, how she hated Austin. He played the main guy in the TV show she was in, and she played the main girl. He always sang duets with her in her songs, and the worst thing, he was her boyfriend. Sylvie had made her go out with him. When Austin got mad at Sam, he'd slap her or push her against the wall, hard. Lastly, he was perverted. He always put his hands on her butt or her breasts and made out with her. Sam was, well, scared of him. Austin wasn't her type. Austin wasn't _anyone's _type. She shook all the thoughts out of her mind, plastered a fake smile on her face, and walked out to the limo. Camera flashes blinded her. Austin grabbed her and put his arm around her butt. He grinned, dipped her, and kissed her. To her, it felt more like a dog was slobbering on her mouth.

'_This is sure to be in the headlines tomorrow,_' Sam thought. Austin brought her back up, grinned again for the cameras, and made a thumbs up sign for the cameras as well. They got into the limo and Sam looked out the window, to the sky. She saw Freddie's face, smiling back at her.

"Becca, what are you staring at? Stare at me," Austin said. She looked at him, rolled her eyes, and looked back out the window. Freddie's face was gone. Then, the limo came to a stop. The door opened and there were more blinding flashes.

"Here comes Austin Alexander Addmann and his beautiful girl, Rebecca Taylor!" the announcer's voice boomed.

"Don't I look freakin' amazing tonight?" Austin asked, beaming.

"Don't flatter yourself. You look like a nub," Sam said, rolling her eyes. Austin jabbed his elbow into her side. He laughed nervously.

"She's just joking! We say that all the time! Like, she'll come over and I'll be like, 'Oh, Becca, you look like a nub today!' and then she'll laugh and be like, 'Oh _baby _you too!' and then she'll walk over and then make out with me," Austin said, smiling a bit nervously. Sam gave him a disgusted look. She mouthed to the cameras, _'That's totally __**not **__true,_' and then looked away, and saw the most familiar face she could possibly imagine, in the crowd.

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**So, here's the next chapter… Hopefully it's tolerable and not that bad. But, it's 11:09 and I had this written so I needed to rewrite it into the computer and post it. So, please hit that green button down there, even if you're anonymous, and review! It would make me extremely happy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the story except for the storyline and the made up characters. Oh, and thank you, my best cousin in the world, for your name! Rebecca Taylor is my best friend/cousin's first and middle name. It sounded awesome, so I used it. Thanks Becks. (:**


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